Auxiliary ribbon feeder attachment



Dot. 3, 1944.

v C. E. WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER AfTACHMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJuly 15, 1942 BY 3 1-QFQMLM' J ATTORNEKS Oct. 3, 1944. c. E. WYRICK2,359,502

AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July 13, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2ATTORNEYS:

Oct. 3, 1944. c. E. WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July15, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 //VVN 70/? By umouflwvmcx (5 #JW ATTORNEYSOct. 3, 1944.

C. E WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July 13, 1942 4Sheets-Sheet 4 JETS-.13

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Rm .Y. 0R E TY M R W n T 1% A c W MW Patented Oct. 3, 1944UNITEDVVVSTATES PATENT OFFICE AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT-Clayton E. Wyrick, Miami, Fla., assignor to The Egry Register Company,Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 13, 1942, SerialNo. 450,691

3 Claims.

This invention relates to attachments for imprinting apparatus, and moreparticularly an auxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism whereby one or morecopies 'of impressions can be made simultaneously.

The auxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism of this invention is applicableto a wide range of imprinting apparatus, such as computing, tabuinconnection with the acconmanying drawings which show one embodiment ofmy invention,

wherein vices which can be arranged to utilize one-time duplicator stripor ribbon means for transferring the impression to copy sheet or webforms.

Another object is to provide a ribbon feeder attachment which is readilyadjustable for mounting on typewriter carriages of diiierent widths andused for forming the copies without the use of carbon sheets, as is theconventional practice.

.Another objectis to devise a duplicator ribbon feeder mechanismcomprising one or more sets of spools upon which the ribbon is wound andunwound automatically by the rotative movement of the typewriter platenduring the normal use of the typewriter.

Another-object is to provide a ribbon feeder attachment which is usefulfor producing copies ofimpressions made upon continuous strips ofstationery, such as commonly used in billing and addressing machines,wherein a plurality of superimposed manifold paper webs comprising aseries-of connected detachable form sheets'are fed through the machineand imprinted upon while simultaneously making copies thereof. In

the improvement provided by my attachment,

the interleaving of the carbon sheets with the manifold papers iseliminated and the imprinting machine can be continuously operated untilthe duplicatorribbon means is worn out or requires changing.

These and other objects and advantages will appear from thespeciflcation'and as hereinafter described and set forth in the claimsand taken Figure 1-is a plan view of my attachment shown mounted foroperation on a typewriter, certain parts being broken away to illustratethe construction and arrangement more clearly;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a modification of thedevice shown in Figure 1, wherein one-time carbon strip or duplicatorribbon means is used;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of illustrated in Figure 1; 1

Figure'4 is a sectional view' taken substantially on the line 4-4 ofFigure 3;.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view I substantially on the line 5-5of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail taken substantially on the line .H'ofFigure 4 and looking in the direction *of the arrows;

Figure 7 isa fragmentary detail view taken substantially 'on the-line1-7-1 of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken through a portion-of theattachment and substantially on the line 8-8 of Figure Llooking in thedirection of the arrows;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line9-9 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a detail view of the uppermost.

ribbon guide means and associated mechanism; Figure 11 is a sectionalview taken through 'the vertically arranged ribbon guide meanspositioned .at opposite sides of the device;

Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of the ribbon guide mechanismshown in Figure 11 and illustrating the arrangement of the ribbon guidechannels;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary detaiLview of the attachment illustrating themechanism for driv- 3 ing the bowl gear ribbon spools during operationof the device;

Figure 14 is an enlarged detail view of the mechanism for operating theone-time duplicator ribbon'stri'ps whereby the same are advanced inposition for receiving and transferring the imprint;

Figure 15 is ajfragmentary sectional view taken substantially on theline15- of Figure 14 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

I Figure 16 is a similar detail view of the mechanism shown in Figure 14and taken substantially on the line li-liof Figure 14 looking in thedirection of the arrows; I

the device I tional view I Figure 17 is an additional detail view takensubstantially on the line ll-Il of Figure 14 and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Heretofore it has been the general practice in operating typewriters andsimilar impression printing machines to make copies of the typing byutilizing carbon sheets which are interleaved between stationery sheetsto simultaneously duplicate the printing on the copy paper. Thi entailstime consuming manual operations of removing the carbon sheet from apack and prearranging and aligning the same with the copy paper, whichis eliminated in the use of my auxiliary ribbon feeding attachment. Theauxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism is so designed and connected with thetypewriter or impression type machin that it operates in synchronismtherewith and after a line has been typed and the platen is advancedpreparatory to imprinting :the next line, the duplicator ribbon memberswhich are interleaved between the manifold paper are automaticallyshifted so that a clear, sharp copy of the printing is made.

By the use of the auxiliary ribbon feeding at-' tachment of thisinvention, the output of the printing machine may be substantiallyincreased and no time is consumed in removing, placing and aligning ofthe carbon sheets during the operation of the device. Furthermore, -amore efllcient and versatile machine is provided.

Detailed description of attachment device Referring to the drawings indetail, there is shown in Figure 1 one embodiment of my inventionattached to a typewriter platen. In the drawing, the ribbon feederattachment mechanism, generally designated 28, is shown adjustablypositioned on the typewriter carriage apron, generally designated 22,and is arranged to be operated by rotary movement of the platen 24 ofthe typewriter.

As shown, the attachment consists of an elongated casing 25 in which ismounted the ribbon spools, generally designated 21. Any suitable numberof ribbon-carrying spools may be mounted in the casing depending uponthe number of copies to be made. As shown, there are six spools, whichconstitute two sets A and 'B. The spools are arranged whereby theribbons 28 ar moved from one set of spools to the other during operationof the typing machine. As illustrated, the ribbon from spools A is beingunwound therefrom and wound up on the spools B.

The duplicator ribbons 28, as shown in Figure 1, are guided forward fromthe spools A and across the front of the typewriter platen and inbetween the stationery copy sheet forms 88 in position to receive andtransfer the imprint of the typewriter key 32- which strikes thetypewriter ribbon 83 and imprints upon the sheet 88 in the conventionalmanner. In this way, one or more copies of the original typing can bemad without the use of carbon sheets.

The casing 25 of the attachment, as shown in Figure 4, comprises abottom portion 38 and a hinged or removable cover member 48. The spools21 are mounted for rotation on the spindle shaft means 42 which extendthrough the bottom wall 88 and are fixedly attached to the bowl gearmeans 44. The uppermost ends of the spindles 42 are received by thesocket 48 formed on the underside of the lid 48 retaining the spools onthe spindles when the lid is in closed position. An

upstanding pin 48 is provided on the disc-like member 49 and arranged toengage in an aperture or cavity formed in the side wall portion of thespool to lock the members together. The disc member 48 is suitably fixedto the spindle'42 at its lowermost portion adjacent the casing wall 28and rotates with the spindle.

In order to provide for alternate driving of the two sets of bowl gearswhich rotate the spindles "whereupon the ribbons 28 can be wound off oneset of spools onto the other and vice versa, a drive shaft 82 carryingthe pinions a, b, c, d, e and j is mounted on the supporting bracketmeans 56 attached to the underside of the wall 88 of the casing 28. Asillustrated in Figure 4,

.the pinion gears drive the bowl gears 44 when the shaft 52 is rotated.Each pinion is mounted on the shaft 52 so as to be axially shiftable outof engagement with its respective bowl gear. A suitable clutch mechanismfor accomplishing this is shown at 54 and, as illustrated, the ribbonspools A are operatively connected to the drive shaft 52 while thespools B are disconnected. One end of the shaft 82 is extended andprovided with a knurled knob 88 for manually manipulating the shaft.Means is also provided comprising a laterally shiftable member 88 fordeclutching one set of pinions, d, e and I, such as shown at 82, whileconnecting the pinions of the other set, a, b and 0. Additionaldeclutching lever means 84 is provided for disconnecting the pinions band 0 when the attachment is to be operated with one-tim carbon ribbonmeans, as shown in Figure 2. The actuating member 88 is suitablysupported on the bottom of the transverse ribbon guide channelways bypunching out clip-like supporting ears 85, as shown in Figure 5.Similarly,- the laterally shiftable operating lever 84 is slidablyretained on'the actuating member 88. A spring clip means 61 is suitablymounted on the bottom of the member 88 which co-operates with thenotches 88 in the side of the shiftable lever 84 whereby it ismaintained in the desired operating position, as shown in Figure 3.

Attached to the front of the casing 28 are the spaced channelways 18along which the ribbons 28 are suitably guided and arranged'to be movedacross the front of the platen and in between the manifold papers. Foractuating the drive shaft 52 and pinions mounted thereon so as to rotatethe bowl gears 44 during rotation of the platen 24, there is providedthe roller actuated means 12 which ismounted for rotation in the forwardend of the member 18. A shaft 18 interconnects the rollers 12 which arearranged to extend through the apertured wall portion 14 in the member18 and frictionally contact the platen 24. Rotary'movement of the platen24 drives the roller 12 which, in turn, drives the shaft 16 through thebevel gearing means 18. On the upper end of the shaft 16 is mounted abevel gear 18 which meshes with a gear 8| keyed to the shaft 52 so thatrevolution of the shaft It drives the shaft 52 and pinions to operatethe spools 2'|.

In Figures 8, 9 and 10 there is illustrated the construction foradjustably mounting the ribbon attachment on a typewriter carriage. Toeifect this, the left-hand ribbonguide channel 18 and associatedmechanism are slidably mounted on the rods 84 which are attached to thebase of the casing 25, as shown in Figure 3. The thumb screws 88 arethreaded into the base nut members 88 and the ribbon box is held inplace on the rods by tightening the thumb screws 88 against the rods 84.When the left-hand ribbon channel is adjusted for a particulartypewriter carriage the friction drive wheel 12 must also be movedrelative to the other wheel and in order to provide for this the shaft18 telescopes into the section 80 attached to the opposite frictiondrive wheel. The shaft portion 89 forms a sleeve and is provided with aslot 9| inwhich a pin 83' fixed to the shaft 13 is adapted to slide soas to provide for axial movement of the shaft 13 but prevents relativerotary movement between the sleeve 80 and the rod-like shaft 13.

In Figure 9 the ribbon holder left end portion, generally designated85,'is arranged so as to teleaway from as shown in Figure '15. Thegrlppr roll mechanism I25 comprises the large drlvenroll I28 and theco-acting spring attached smaller roll I28. v

contact withthe roll I28 by rotating the shaft in against the action ofthe spring scope over and adjacent the portion so as to make it widercarriage apron. The ribbons 28 are guided from or narrower to fit atypewriter the spools over theadjustable guide member I ure 10. Thefront wallportio'n I82 of the casing comprises the apertures I whichcommunicate with the channelways 10 and through which the ribbons areguided to the front of the typewriter platen. The opposing ends of the'front wall member I02 are curved outwardly as at I05 so as'to serve as aguide 'for. one of the ribbon members. It will be understood, ofcourse,that the ribbon guide member l00 will comprise the proper number ofribbon-supporting sections to accommodate the number of ribbons employedin the attachment. I

In Figures 11 and 12 the forward ribbon'guide way channel members,generally designated I01,

I and into the channelways' 10, as shown in Fig- I to peimit'insertionof the ends of the dupll-.' cator ribbons 28, as shown in Figures 2 and14,

preparatory to operating the machine.' This is conveniently donebygrasping the knurled knob I36 of the Shaft I32 'andturning it.Suitablemeans for receiving and guiding the ribbons 20, after passingbetween the rolls I28 and I28, is

shown in Figure 17, wherein a U-shaped member I40 is arranged tocollectively receive and guide the used ribbon portions as they are advvanced outwardly by the gripper roll means I25.

The member I40 also functions as a tear-off member for detaching theused ribbons.

- to the opposite. set of spoolsB upon which the are illustrated whichare adjustably connected to the forward end of the ribbon guide-channel-- ways 1 0 at opposite sides of the platen. -'These members areadjustably'attached to the sides of the channelways 10 by means of thebrackets I08.

The side brackets" I08 supp rt the spacedwall members IIO which form theindividual nibbo'n guide passageways II 2. The spaced wall portions IIOof the. guide members I01 are concentricalthe channelwayslll anddownwardly in front of the typewriter platen. .The lowermost portions ofthe guide wall members IIO are provided with in the typewriter in theusual manner and the ,ly curved at their-uppermost portions, as at m; Iso as to guide the ribbons at a right angle to an aperture H6 ofelliptical shape which permits movement of. the ribbon at right anglesto I the downwardly extending guideway' channel membersv I01. In thisway, each of the individual ribbons is guided evenly from the spoolsoutwardly'through the channelways' 10 and downwardly through the membersI01 and across the Y One-time ribbon modified construction Where it isdesired to use one-time ribbons or carbon strips as a duplicator means,the arrangement shown in Figures 2, 14, 15, 16 and 1'1 is used whereinthe ribbon spools 21 are collectively drawn across the front of theplaten by the gripper roll member, generally designated I25, asillustrated in Figure 2..- In this modification, the ends of the ribbons28' are fed into the co-acting ribbon gripping roll means I25 which isadapted to take-the placeof one of the spools ofribbon. This ribbondrawing roll member fits over the shaft 02 and is driven by bowl gearsimilarly as the ribbon-spools 21,

Operation '7 In the use of the attachment on an ordinary typewriter, asshown in Figure l,' the device is fittedon the apron carriage of thetypewriter 1 I and the ribbon spools A and B placed in the easing 25 onthe spindles 42. The ribbon-spools A are mounted on the spindles" andthe ribbons brought forward through the guidewaychannel means on theleft side of the attachment, downwardly through the ribbon guide channelI01 and across the front of the platen andupwardly ribbons are to berewound. After the ribbons have been properly mounted, the attachment ismounted on the typewriten as illustrated in;

Figure l. 'The manifold-papers 30 are inserted copy sheets or websinterleaved between the ribbons 20' similarly as in the case of carbonpaper. When the manifold papers' have been arranged,

the typewriter is operatedin' the conventional way. 1 1

Inasmuch as the friction roller-members 12 are in contact with theplaten 28 of the-type.-

writer, when the operator rotates the'platen by. tuming the knurledknobs atthe sideof the typewriter or otherwise moves the platenas in.advancing the manifold papers,'the ribbons, are automatically shiftedthrough the associated driving mechanism to present a new surface on theribbon for receiving'the next line of impressions. During the operationof the. typewriter, thev ribbons are gradually unwound from the spools Aand taken up on the other. set of spools B. In order to reverse thetravel of the ribbons 28, it is merely required that the operator shiftthe lever so as to disengage the pinions a, b and c from theirrespective bowl gears and engage the corresponding set of pinions d, eand f. When this is done, the machine operates to drive the spools A soas to unwind the ribbons off of the spools B back onto the spools A andthe cycle is continued until the ribbons are sufilciently worn torequire replacement.

In the operation of the modification shown in Figure 2, the end ribbonspools is replaced with a friction gripper roller I25 which isconstructed to fit on the spindle and be driven in the same manner asthe ribbon spool. In this arrangement, however, the ribbons on thespools are collectivelyunwound from the spools by the I gripper roll I25 whereupon after one-time use the ribbons are discarded. In thismodification,

the ribbons may be made of strips of' carbon The roll I28 is adapted tobe. swung paper or similar inexpensive duplicator .tape. When the deviceis used in this manner, the drive pinions for the bowl gears are alldisconnected except the end one which drives the gripper roll I25. Thisis conveniently effected by shifting the lever 64 so as to declutch thepinion gears b and c from their respective bowl gears, as illustrated inFigure 4 and the ribbon drawing gripper roll I2: is mounted on the endbowl gear driven spindle operated by the pinion a, all the other pinionsbeing disconnected so that the spools containingthe ribbons are free torotate permitting unwinding of the ribbon thereon dur.. ing operation ofthe device.

It will be appreciated that the duplicator ribbons will be maintainedtaut by any suitable drag producing means so that the ribbons will beheld in proper position 'between the manifold papers to receive theimpression made by the typewriter keys and duplicate it on the copypaper arranged therebeneath.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the particulardetails of construction shown in the drawings and described but thatvarious modifications may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing devicehaving front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movablerelative to said type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbonoperatively associated with said platen for transferring typedimpressions onto a record web carried over said platen, an auxiliaryframe structure supported 'by said carriage and movable therewith andextending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality of supplementaryinking ribbons disposed on spools, means for individually supportingsaid spools on said frame rearwardly of said platen with the axes of thespools arranged vertically, guide means for directing the movement ofthe supplemental inking ribbons from said spools forwardly of the platenand in alignment with the main inking ribbon, individual drive means foreach of said spools, a common drive means from said platen operativelyconnected to each of said individual drive means, individual clutchmeans between said common drive means and said individual drive meansfor individually connecting or disconnecting said spools from saidcommon drive means, and manual means operatively associated with saidclutch means to selectively connect said common drive means to the drivemeans for said spools to wind or unwind the auxiliary ribbons thereof,and means operatively connecting said common drive means to said platenfor causing operation thereof during rotation of said platen.

' 2. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing devicehaving front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movablerelative to acid type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbonoperatively associated with said platen for transferring typedimpressions onto a record web carried over said platen, an auxiliaryframe'structure supported by said carriag and movable therewith andextending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality of supplementaryinking ribbons disposed on spools, means for individually supportingsaid spools on said frame rearwardly of said platen with the axes of thespools arranged vertically, guide means for directing the movement ofthe supplemental inking ribbons from said spools forwardly of the platenand in alignment with the main inking ribbon, individual drive means foreach of said spools, arm means extending between said frame and saidcarriage for supporting said frame thereon, roller means carried by saidarm means at the forward end thereof frictionally engaging said platento be driven thereby, drive shaft means operatively connecting saidroller means with said drive means for'said spools, individual clutchmeans on said drive shaft means for connecting and disconnecting thesame to the drive means for said spools, and manual means forselectively engaging and disengaging said clutch means to windor unwindthe ribbons on the spools.

3'. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing devicehaving front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movablerelative to said type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbonoperatively associated'with said platen for transferringtypedimpressions onto a record web carried over said platen, anauxiliary frame structure supported by said carriage and movabletherewith and extending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality ofsupplementary inking ribbons disposed on spools,

means for individually supporting said spools on said frame rearwardlyof said platen with the axes of the spools arranged vertically anddisposed in alignment with one another, individual drive means for eachof said spools, a drive shaft positioned beneath said spools and inalignment with the axes thereof, individual clutch means connecting saiddrive shaft with each of said drive means comprising individual driveelements mounted on said drive shaft for axial movement thereon forengagement or disengagement with said drive means for said spools,manual means for selectively connecting or disconnecting said driveelements with said drive means for said spools, and means operativelyconnecting said drive shaft with said platen for rotation thereof uponrotation of the platen.

CLAYTON E. WYRICK.

